It’s the exact situation that makes couples so nervous to go out with another couple in the first place: bad conversation leading to awkward silences that seem to go on forever.
Sure, it doesn’t happen every time, but meeting other couples can be a little nerve-racking at first. If you arm yourself with knowledge and know-how about avoiding the aforementioned awkward conversations, you’ll feel a lot better about having a night out with another couple.
One of the best ways to keep the conversation light and fun is to avoid the heavier stuff – you don’t have to totally avoid being controversial, but you will want to avoid conversation topics that can push a friendly dinner downhill fast. Here are a few of these topics:
Religion. Sharing your religious thoughts and beliefs with others is fine – but if you’re in the early stages of a relationship with other people, you might want to keep them to yourself. Sure, a deep and full friendship means being able to talk about your religious beliefs whether or not you agree with others – but if you’re already at that stage with the other couple, then you don’t need to worry as much about which topics to avoid.
Politics. The other half of the classic “avoid talking about religion and politics” advice, it’s important to remember just how heated political discussions can get. For some reason, political opinions cause a big rift in people: it’s easy to see how quickly a political discussion can steer a conversation south. Politics can be so polarizing that it’s even good to avoid deeper into a relationship if you have differing views.
Flaws. If one member of your couple friends has an obvious physical flaw, it’s generally not a good idea to talk about it. Sure, some people need to have senses of humor about themselves – but you don’t know how sensitive someone can be. It’s best to avoid it and just accept a person as they are. Resist the temptation to put your thoughts “on the table” in these cases, because you won’t be doing yourself or your significant other a favor.
Yourself. Talking about yourself is one of the quickest ways to bore the other couple, unless you’ve got something to say that would be as interesting if you were talking about someone else. If you’ve taken up a new hobby lately – say, painting – you won’t exactly engage the other couple. But if your hobby is bungee jumping, well, that’s something a little more exciting. Try to talk about the other couple if you’re going to talk about any couple in particular.
Unsolicited advice. And speaking of talking about the other couple, you’ll want to be wary of giving out unsolicited advice. You should be sharing a good experience with the other couple, not trying to position yourself as the couple with “more experience” or the couple that’s “got it together.” If your relationship is strong, then you don’t need to tell anyone else about it. Add the fact that unsolicited advice can often make someone less interested in heeding your words and you see why this can be something to avoid on a regular basis.